In today's world, many competitions are not only popular as a source of entertainment but also as a wagering opportunity. For example, there are numerous competitions, such as racing events like horseracing, which allow members of the public to wager in advance on the outcome.
Many, but not all, of the wagering on these competitions is managed under a system called pari-mutuel wagering. In pari-mutuel wagering, rather that prescribing odds/payouts in advance, the aggregate moneys wagered on the competition are calculated, a “tax” is then extracted to cover the various costs of operating the competition, and the balance is distributed to those with winning wagers. As a result, the payouts or odds cannot be determined in advance and only become known when all moneys wagered can be counted. Accordingly, odds/payouts can and do fluctuate widely as the moneys wagered accumulate, and the predicted payout on a wager made early in the wagering cycle may vary markedly from the actual payout calculated after all wagers are counted.
An individual's aggregate bets placed on the horses may turn out to be profitable for the better if his wagers correctly predict the actual outcomes of the event. But a successful wager in a horseracing event depends on many factors, including 1) the bettor's selection of the proper entries, 2) his choice of which of the myriad wagers presented should be accepted and which should be rejected, 3) the amount of each individual wager in relation to the aggregate of all the bettor's wagers on a specific competition and 4) the bettor's recognition that some wagers are mutually exclusive. For example, a wager that two entries in a racing completion will finish in the order a-b and another wager that the two entries finish in the order b-a cannot both be winning wagers.
Further, the anticipated return from a wager depends on the proportion of the total moneys wagered on losing bets vs. the moneys spent on successful wagers (which relationships determine the odds or ratio of moneys won vs. moneys wagered). Since wagers are placed over time, the odds change over time; in pari-mutuel wagering, as opposed to many more common games of chance (e.g. roulette) the payoffs are not determined until all the wagers have been accumulated and the payout computed. Additionally, each type of wager, such as a “Win” bet may carry a different venue-imposed tax, as previously defined, making the prediction of a payout even more difficult. Further, different venues may impose a different tax.
Further, in existing systems, the bettor often relies on speculative odds, such as those predicted by “experts” who attempt to forecast odds based upon their judgment of the ultimate actual distribution of the wagering moneys. Since these forecasts are made well in advance of the competition, they are subject to a host of possible events that may influence the actual wagering patterns that determine the actual payout. Weather conditions, the absence of one or more of the expected contestants, the current health/condition of the entrants, the condition of the racetrack surface and many other factors are relevant and make reliance on speculative payouts a risky proposition.
Further, the existing systems do not compute the optimized betting strategy based upon bettor's total budget. Accordingly, where multiple wagers may appear to be prudent, how to proportion the wagers within the bettor's budget is unaddressed.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods and systems for generating an optimized wagering strategy that may overcome one or more of the abovementioned problems and/or limitations.